Synthetic protein may yield malaria vaccine
By Nathan Seppa
A lab-made version of a protein found on the parasite that causes most serious cases of malaria elicits a potent immune response when given to people, suggesting it could become the basis of a vaccine against the disease.
No malaria vaccine has yet proved practical in people, and this new approach remains a long shot. Still, the synthetic-protein fragment offers hope because it spurs production of both antibodies and immune cells, scientists report in the July European Journal of Immunology. The fragment is patterned after a portion of a malaria protein called circumsporozoite.